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A heart attack in five easy steps

THE path to "pork Nirvana" is straightforward but certainly not
pretty. Weave about one kilogram of bacon rashers into a fatty
lattice, topped with sausage mince in equal measure, bite-sized
crunchy bacon bits and lashings of barbecue sauce (bacon salt
optional). Roll the whole concoction into a pork log, baste with
more sauce and barbecue on a low heat for three hours. And there
you have the perfect Bacon Explosion  otherwise known as the
latest food craze to sweep the internet.

The modestly titled "BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes" 
which melds pig and fat into a bulging, torpedo-shaped beast 
has burst from a kitchen in Roeland Park, Kansas, on to the World
Wide Web. Its creators say more than 16,000 websites have linked to
the recipe, either to show their appreciation or distaste. Bacon
Explosion boasts its own Facebook page and YouTube videos 
complete with footage of one American amateur chef's accidental
pork log flambe.

At about 21,000 kilojoules and 500 grams of fat, the Bacon
Explosion makes Hungry Jack's infamous Quad Stack look like the
healthy alternative. The New York Times reported last week
that the recipe was conceived before Christmas by two men keen to
combine their love for barbecues and bacon. And it has been eaten
up in a country whose offerings to the culinary world include hot
dogs and deep-fried peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwiches.

But Mark Hardy, Australian Pork's marketing manager in Victoria,
said the dish was too fatty to attract many local pork eaters. "It
looks sensational but I don't think too many of the ladies
would jump on board having seen that on top of the BBQ, but
certainly with a nice, leaner Australian bacon, it would come up
beautifully."

Ian Curley, executive chef of the European, in Melbourne city,
described the recipe as a "redneck dish that sounds like something
you would get at a dodgy ribs shack". But Adrian Richardson, of
North Carlton's La Luna Bistro, said the Bacon Explosion sounded
"fabulous". "If someone invited me around and that's the dish they
were going to do, I would think it would be great," he said.

Mr Richardson, author of cookbook Meat, compared the
recipe to "Beer in the Butt Roast Chicken", which experienced a
blaze of popularity several years ago. "It sounds like the sort of
thing that a bunch of blokes getting together and wanting to
impress each other would come up with. Whether you would find it on
the menu of Melbourne's leading establishments, I would think not.
But then again, someone might like to get their own free-range pork
and pancetta or prosciutto and mix it up here."

Kathy Bell, chief executive of Heart Foundation Victoria, said,
"You're not going to drop dead on the spot if you try one", but
warned against regular intake of foods high in saturated fats and
salt.

Bloggers in the US have similarly given the Bacon Explosion a
wide berth. One contributor said, "The finished product looks like
how my arteries would look after eating it! Pure EVIL", while
another remarked: "I have to try this. Just have to get approved
for a loan first."

But online, it's all about being heard above the din  no
matter what people have to say. Bacon Explosion co-creator and
internet marketer Aaron Chronister told The New York Times
he used the Twitter text-messaging service to send short messages
about the recipe to 1200 people and posted links on social
networking sites. "I used a lot of my connections to get it out
there and to push it," he said.

The recipe's following has quickly spread beyond barbecue
aficionados, attracting mention on both left-wing radio networks
and in right-wing magazines. Mr Chronister has also won attention
for his website, BBQAddicts.com, which he hopes will bring in more
advertising income.

RMIT University's John Lenarcic, of the School of Business
Information Technology, said it was "a random process, almost
accidental, why some things become popular online and others
don't", but added that food products often attracted great
interest. The Bacon Explosion could be the start of a whole series
of food products being marketed online in creative ways, he
said.